


To the Moon and Beyond

by masteremeraldholder



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Space, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Family, Gen, Latino Character, Medicine, Mental Health Issues, Mixed-race character, NASA, One Shot, Original Fiction, POV First Person, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 21:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17149670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masteremeraldholder/pseuds/masteremeraldholder
Summary: There’s something people don’t know about me. It’s hidden behind my face. Under my brown skin and hazel eyes. Behind my braces and lisp and good girl personality.It’s this:I live on the moon.





	To the Moon and Beyond

There’s something people don’t know about me. It’s hidden behind my face. Under my brown skin and hazel eyes. Behind my braces and lisp and good girl personality.

It’s this:

I live on the moon.

…

Mamá says that when I was little I used to think that I was in a video game. I would make my own sound effects as I battled ghouls and goblins with my magic wand and quick-witted plans of attack. The dusty photo albums under the coffee table in the sitting room attest to this.

There are photos of me with longer hair, same wide eyes and horrendous buck teeth holding a twig for a wand, casting a spell on Dad to keep him from losing anymore hair.

Ironically, Dad’s bald as a badger now and I can’t remember a thing from my childhood.

…

I see an alien in the distance. Some would feel threatened at the sight. But the alien is my friend. Seeing him here brings me comfort like no other.

The surface of the moon is bumpy. My bottom aches as I sit beside my friend. He is small and green. How most people imagine aliens looking. I found him here alone. I suppose he was abandoned. Or maybe, like me, he prefers to be by himself. I would ask him this if only he could talk. But he cannot. It’s for the best.

Earth looks miniscule from here. I am at peace knowing that all of the disharmony and strife is two-hundred thirty-eight thousand nine-hundred miles away from me.

Space is my escape. My home.

I don’t need the things that other people might need to survive. My space suit provides me with everything I will ever need. Nourishment, air, shelter.

I am safe.

…

I crash down to Earth with a splitting headache.

I am back. My mission was a failure.

An ugly feeling wiggles into my head as I struggle to sit up.

The feeling tells me that if I don’t find a way to get back to the moon, I will surely suffer.

But I can barely open my eyes. How will I get back? Who can help me?

Confusedly, I call for someone, anyone. Mamá, Dad, my alien friend.

I hope that I will make it back to the moon before my head implodes.

…

I go to Doctor Carol, who as been my doctor since I was little, for a mere check-up, but Mamá tells her how I no longer believe I’m a video game characters. But that I now live on the moon.

I feel betrayed. My mission was classified. Now, the world will know and take over my little haven in space.

I cry.

…

Dad remains neutral in the ordeal. I really have no one on my side. My only friend is too far away to call for help. So, I take the things they give me, and my visits to the moon become more sporadic. I am forced to stay on Earth.

…

Mamá says that I shouldn’t be upset about not going to the moon anymore. That since I am fixed, I can focus on my studies again.

I would rather not. Afterall,  _ she _ is the one who sabotaged my mission.

But then, I get the idea that maybe I could return to space. It embeds deep in my chest, and I know that this feeling will not go away.

I focus on getting to the moon again.

* * *

 

I have not seen the surface of the moon in over a year. I yearn for it. To see the craters, the dark side. To see how small Earth looks from there. I wonder if anything has changed. Has my alien friend forgotten about me?

I use these feelings of despair and desire to keep working.

I will be there shortly.

…

My name stares back at me on the list hanging from the wall.

  1. _Laurita Eugenia Sims_



I am fourteenth in line to be interviewed by the engineers at NASA for the internship. This is the final step in achieving my goal.

I will go into the presentation room and pitch my ideas, my plans, and dreams. I will lay everything on the line for three white men who may write me away as soon as they take a look at me.

But, I am not afraid.

They have not seen what I have. Haven’t been to the moon like I have before.

I know who I am.

…

“Miss Sims,” They say. “We have one last question. Why should we choose you?”

I take a breath. Think of my alien friend. Of Mamá and Dad.

I think of the celestial body that I yearn for. So close, yet so far.

I inhale deeply. And I tell them about my journeys to the moon and beyond.

* * *

 

I am staring at Earth. Staring at Earth from the moon.

Twelve others have done so before me. None of them were female. None of them were people of color.

None of them have gone more than once.

I am finally here. After so many years. I am here.

I am me.

**Author's Note:**

> [art](http://purplecrystalgem.tumblr.com/post/181402929966/to-the-moon-and-beyond) drawn by my sis!!
> 
> wrote this for my momma as a christmas present, COMMENT if y'all enjoyed it!! happy holidays!!


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